By Lynn Janes

(Author's Note. Generally, this writer likes to highlight the positive events in council and board meetings when possible but this time she felt this problem needed to be noticed. Many very positive things happened in this meeting.)

The town of Bayard held a special meeting April 23, 2025. Attendance included Mayor John L. Ojinaga, Mayor Pro Tem Eloy Medina and Councilors, Frances Gonzales, Eloy Gonzales and Gilbert Ortiz. Martha Salas, city clerk, also attended.

Police Chief Hector Carrillo wanted to give a little breakdown of what had transpired before Robert Whitaker, Gila Regional Medical Center (GRMC) spoke. Three years earlier Bayard had approached GRMC about obtaining an ambulance. The reason had been to have a crime scene unit. The crime scene unit will be used for search warrants, burglaries, unattended deaths, etc. It allows them to have everything they need at the scene instead of having to go back and forth to the office. After Whitaker came, he helped them obtain that request.

Whitaker said when he had heard about this request, he wanted to assist in obtaining it and was excited to do so. Because of state rules they had to go through a process and now they can donate an ambulance to Bayard for the crime scene unit. "From the beginning ,I always mentioned I never wanted people to think GRMC was a Silver City hospital but a community hospital. I am happy to do this." He had it cleaned up, oil changed and fueled. It will be ready to use at any time. "Thank you to the chief and city council for letting us be a good partner."

Carrillo said on behalf of Bayard Police Department he wanted to extend their deepest gratitude to GRMC for the generous donation of the ambulance to the department. The contribution shows GRMC commitment to public safety in the community. The ambulance will serve as the crime scene unit and will have a lasting impact on operations. The council approved the donation.

Proclamations

The town of Bayard had three proclamations the council approved, Cobre High Cheer Week, Cobre High Powerlifting Week and Dispatcher Appreciation Week. Salas read each one.

Public input

A representative from Big Brother Big Sisters wanted the council to know that Give Grandly would be happening the coming Saturday and would be held at Gough Park. Gila Community Foundation sponsors the event. People can continue to give until May 26, 2025. If the total donations each nonprofit receives reach or exceed $500, it will be matched by an additional $500.

An employee had come to speak to the council and said he had a meeting with his supervisor, and he had directed him to the council. The council let him know that personnel matters would not be discussed in open session but could be in closed session, and he would be contacted later.

Cindy Renee Provencio, head librarian, said a patron had brought a traffic concern to her a few weeks ago. The traffic in the afternoons in front of the library comes down very fast. It causes difficulty for patrons to back out. She said she also has trouble herself. The patron had asked, and she also asked that the council might consider lowering the speed limit 30 to 20 mph. It would make it safer to back out and for pedestrians. The state department of transportation has to make those changes.

The council approved the consent agenda. It included minutes and department head reports. It also included for Carrillo to attend a meeting and instructor update in Albuquerque and the police clerk to attend law enforcement symposium in Albuquerque.

New business

The council approved the fiscal year 2024 audit. Isaac Mendoza of Beasley, Mitchell and Company, provided a very detailed presentation to the council on the audit they had done. Bayard had received an unmodified opinion which meant they held no reservations with the financial statements. It would be the best opinion the city could receive. He went through the scope of the services and what had or had not been detected in the process. He complimented management for their help and cooperation.

Mendoza then went over their findings. The first one had been because of prior period adjustments, which would be a material weakness and had been due to change in management. He went over what those adjustments had been. He and Salas had reached out to the prior auditor for some information to help identify some things, but they had not replied. The second finding had been a coding error. After new management came on board that had been identified and coded correctly. The next one had to do with lack of internal controls over adjusting journal entries. The state requires that all manual adjusting journal entries be reviewed and approved. Because of change in management, none of the journal entries they had selected had been reviewed and approved. Mendoza said when new management started this internal control had been implemented immediately. The last finding had been payment without services rendered. The city paid $23,490 in advance for work not done and skipped the required bidding process putting the city at financial and legal risk. This had been done by previous management and identified by new management.

Mendoza continued to explain the audit in detail and answer questions for quite a while. Frances Gonzales said she had been on the council for a long time and had never had an audit presentation that really explained things and used everyday language and easily understandable. "I appreciate that."

Allyson Siwik, Southwest New Mexico Community Forestry Network, attended to provide an update on the project. Siwik is also the executive director of Gila Resources Information Project. Denise Smith also attended, as the community liaison for the project. Siwik wanted to refresh the memories of the council since it had been a year since when they had last presented to them. They had teamed up with Western New Mexico University. The US Department of Agriculture funded the project under the Urban and Community Forestry Program. The purpose of the project would be to build capacity at the local level for urban and community forestry in six communities that include Deming, Lordsburg, Silver City, Bayard, Hurley and Santa Clara. The plan will be to guide how to plant trees and do tree maintenance. They have been working with the maintenance staff and have done an assessment on the trees in the community. In May of last year, they had worked on a draft for the community. They have also been reaching out to a lot of the community and had teamed up with the library and had an event to have some community input on the project. She went over what had been found out in these surveys. They had met with maintenance and identified trees that needed removed and pruned. Southwest Tree Solutions will be coming to take out the dead trees and prune the ones that needed it. Next will be to replace those trees with indigenous trees. She spoke to the need to plant trees at the community center park, golf course, post office and community gardens. Siwik went over some of the other things they would be doing in the process.

Eloy Gonzales wanted to know how much this would cost Bayard. Siwik replied that it would cost nothing, as the project would be fully funded. Ojinaga wanted to know how many trees they would be planting. Siwik said it would be up to them. For the project they will have 1,000 trees the plant in the six communities. They realized that maintenance would be part of the decision and irrigation. They had already planted five trees at the Union Hall.

The trees will be native, and all will be drought tolerant. She listed native oaks, Mexican sycamore, Texas redbud and Chinese Pistache. Chinese Pistache would not be native but drought tolerant and provides good shade. The choice on trees would be made by the community. They discussed planting the right trees in the right spots referring to sunlight needed. The council approved the presentation.

The council approved the Fun Day to be held at the little league field for Bayard Elementary.

Salas brought a joint powers agreement for consolidated public safety answering point for Grant County. She and the other clerks had some concerns. They have a section in the agreement that addresses percentages that they will use to base charges to the community on. They had not specified a percentage. "I am not comfortable with that." They could come back with a high percentage that Bayard would not have budgeted for. She continued to explain the issue and wanted to know if the council would authorize her to go back to the dispatch meeting and discuss this agreement. She wanted to see some specific percentages so it could be budgeted. She asked the council to postpone the agreement until the concerns have been addressed at the next meeting. The council agreed to postpone. She will also be addressing billing consistency. In the past it had come irregularly.

Dolores Charon had come to address vacant buildings in the community. Her house had burnt down partially due to a vacant house next door on March 13, 2025. The vacant house had already burnt down a few years earlier and people had been living in it, and nothing had been done about the house or the people living in it.

This time her dog had alerted her at night, and she called 911 but the back of her house had still caught fire because of the vacant next door property. "It was no accident, and the report says it was an accident." The people don't belong in the vacant houses. She said now she has to pay the price. She had to leave the house and move into a motel that will not allow her dog. She doesn't know from day to day where she will be because she doesn't know how to pay for the hotel. "This was not an accident. I don't care what anyone tells me. This was not accident." She knew who had done it and they have still been walking around town. She didn't know what would have happened had she not been woken up by her dog. Her house had caught fire quickly from the vacant house next door.

Charon has been at the house everyday scrubbing down the walls. Her cousin had rented a bobcat and knocked down the two bedrooms in the back of the house that had been destroyed by the fire. She lost family photos and other memories and watched while the bobcat lifted it all up and threw it in a dumpster. Her stepson rented the dumpster for her. She had been born and raised in that house. "I don't think I should have to pay for somebody else's negligence." She said this had taken everything out of her and said she was in a living hell.

The person that had been in the vacant house yells at Charon when she sees her.

Charon said she just goes every day and scrubs the walls and tries to salvage what she can. "I'm scared I am going to end up on the street. I am terrified every single day." She hates having to leave her dog there every night alone.

Ojinaga said they have been trying to clean these properties up. They need addresses of the people that own these vacant properties and have made maps to identify the ones needing to be addressed. They have a new code enforcement officer and Ojinaga believed she had been doing a good job. The first day she had handed out two citations. He knew she had been doing her job because he had complaints.

Charon said that house has been empty and burned a few years ago. She and her husband had wanted to buy that house and the one next to it at one time and they had gone in, and people had been living in them. "Why doesn't the city clean it up?"

Ojinaga said they have been trying to find out who owns those houses and others. They can't go into the property. Another resident from the area expressed being upset over nothing being done and said everyone knows who owns the property. Ojinaga said they needed to know and would appreciate the help. This exchange with residents went on for some time. Clearly a lot of people have been very upset by this issue and some other properties. A resident asked if Bayard had any funds to help Charon. They can't because of anti-donation laws.

This had been the second time Charon had to evacuate her home because of this vacant house. Last time flames came at her house and this time it caught it on fire. She had talked to the owner, and he knew kids had been coming in and out of it but didn't do anything.

Carrillo expressed how sorry he was about the situation. He said the community had come together and she had received donations. He said the person Charon had been speaking of being in the house sits in jail currently for another violation. "Theres a lot of stuff that police departments across the country are facing. Mental health and incompetency have created a battle."

Charon said she worries all the time. She will be covered for a few days at the hotel but what about after that. She had lost many papers, pictures and family memorabilia. She reiterated this sentiment many times in the conversation.

Carrillo said, "I am very frustrated for you." He could not arrest this person because the report says it had been due to an accident and not arson. He said he had the code enforcement officer looking into some grants for her. He has also instructed the code enforcement officer to have zero tolerance, and they have regular patrols in the area. As soon as they have the owners' names and contacts for the vacant properties, they will be issuing citations. The officers have been IDing the people walking around that have been living in the abandoned houses so they can find out who they are and if they have warrants.

Charon said the owner of the vacant property just told her sorry it happened. She has a GoFundMe page that has been keeping her going but doesn't know from day to day what will happen.

In the discussion it was brought up that she needed an inspector to see if she could even move back into the house because of the severe damage from the fire. A lot of discussion went on about if she had to or not and Charon had heard different things from different people. Medina asked if the fire marshal could help with any inspections of stability or sustainability. He asked that they be contacted. He also thought they might be able to help with a place for Charon to live.

Charon said she had reached out to the Red Cross and received $350. She has reached out the Habitat for Humanity and they could not help. She had reached out to many programs and could not find assistance. Part of the problem she has had no one will let her have her dog, a German Shepherd. "I am never going to feel comfortable again."

Charon said next time it could take someone's life. When calling 911 that night she could feel the heat of the fire. "This person destroyed my life." This person has come to her car and yelled at her. She insisted again it had not been an accident. The owner didn't do anything the first time it burnt because of people living in it and now it has happened again. "I want my house back and I want to live in my house." Charon reiterated she now has to pay for someone else's negligence and being the one punished.

Provencio submitted the 30 Something grant. It had been due April 1, 2025, and she remined them she had received their verbal blessing to to so. The grant will be for an outdoor kitchen and some hydroponic gardening. The outdoor kitchen had been so expensive she had just put in the grant for that and would address the hydroponic garden with another grant. Salas had wanted this to be an action item to officially approve of the outdoor kitchen and discuss any concerns.

Ojinaga said a library park should be for people to sit quietly and read. Frances Gonzales said it would be more of an extension of the library and be for events. Eloy Gonzales had concerns of vandalism.

Provencio said she had looked at two different designs and one company had prefabricated outdoor kitchens. She addressed the concerns of people breaking in and said she had eliminated a traditional grill. Now it will just have burners. She pointed out that libraries have been at a crossroads across the nation. Many people have not been coming into libraries to read books, and the numbers have been decreasing. "Libraries are a place of knowledge and to share knowledge." The vision of the outdoor kitchen and garden had been to teach people how to grow food and cook healthier. The discussion went on for some time and vandalism continued to be a concern. The council also wanted to know more about the garden and where it would be. It had also been suggested to just use the kitchen at the community center.

The council also wanted to know the fuel source for the outdoor kitchen. Provencio said it would be small propane tanks that would not be left and would only be present for events. She planned on having cooking classes and plant programs once or twice a month. It would still be a quiet place to read most of the time. Ortiz said if they continued to be afraid of vandalism they would never have anything.

She felt like many people in the community have been looking for opportunities to come together in fellowship, cooking, and sharing food. The library would be a place to create those connections.

The council all approved except Eloy Gonzales.

The council approved the appointment of Jessica Salaiz for library committee member. Salaiz also serves on the Silver City Library board and is the program specialist for Big Brothers Big Sisters. Her grandmother and sister work as librarians.

Carrillo wanted to recognize some people. The first two had been citizens he felt had gone above and beyond. Dominique De La Torre had found an unattended child on April 14, 2025, walking alone on the street and remained with the child until law enforcement arrived. "Your calm compassionate and selfless response to a potentially dangerous situation exemplifies the very best of what it means to be a caring member of the community." People like this remind people of the power and impact that everyday people can have when they choose to act with compassion and responsibility.

Carrillo next recognized Terry De La Torre for her courageous and selfless actions during the residential fire which caused a power outage in Bayard March 13, 2025. She had immediately called emergency dispatch and assisted a resident in evacuating her home as the fire spread. She exemplified extraordinary bravery, quick thinking and compassion.

Carrillo said, "There are two types of people in an emergency, those who run towards and those that run away."

He had two officers he wanted to recognize having to do with the same fire, Officer Johnathon Salcedo and Santa Clara Police Officer Austin Whitehead. Upon arriving at the scene, they both had acted with outstanding courage and professionalism.

The council approved resolution 8-2025. This accepted the fiscal year 2024 audit they had a presentation on earlier.

The council approved resolution 10-2025. This supported the application and pledge for matching funds for fiscal year 2026 transportation fund project. Salas went over the roads that would be in the scope of the project.

The council approved resolution 9-2025. This will be for budget adjustments. Salas only had a couple, one for the municipal court fund and the other self-insurance. She explained the reason for both.

Planning and zoning

The council approved the proposed addition at 614 Taylor Street by A.R. Construction LLC. Planning and zoning had recommended the addition. Frances Gonzales abstained due to being on the planning and zoning board.

The council approved the application for a variance at 612 Taylor Street by John Saenz. Planning and zoning had recommended the variance. Frances Gonzales abstained due to being on the planning and zoning board. They had a public input meeting for this variance and didn't have any public input on the matter.

The council went into closed session to discuss personnel matters at the maintenance department.

The council came back into open session.

Action items resulting from closed session

The council approved the termination of the maintenance employee.

Salas said this had been on the last agenda but due to Frances Gonzales not being present they had decided to hold off. The council approved the part time maintenance employee to assist in the maintenance personnel shortage. Currently the animal control officer works part time, and he will now work part time with maintenance making him a full time employee. Salas said Scott Saville had been doing a great job with animal control. They had met with New Mexico BARC, and they have been happy with how well he has cared for the animals.

The council approved a temporary 5 percent pay raise for the maintenance department for two pay periods at most and to stop if a person can be hired before the two pay periods have happened. Salas said they might have someone hired shortly.

Department head reports

Carrillo said they currently have two officers in the academy, and they will graduate in June and be accredited making the department fully staffed. He did have a concern about the radio tower and have had a lot of communication errors with dispatch. They have tried to find out the problem. The Grant County emergency manager has said they would be fixing the repeaters. Carrillo had reached out to Freeport McMoRan (FMI), and they will be paying their employees to come look at the repeater and see what has been going on. FMI will also be helping pay for new radios.

Medina said the problem had been KRWG tower and originally the county thought it would be $10,000 to fix the problem and it will only be $1,000.

Medina told Carrillo if they need equipment he needed to come to the council. The council wants to make sure they have the equipment that they need. They discussed for some time about the old radios and where they had come from. They had come from the fire department. Carrillo said he would be making a document with all the serial numbers and who had what.

Carrillo went over the upcoming Tour of the Gila event that would run through Bayard. He had met with them, and they went over what needed to be done. He went over with them how the residents and city workers help to block the streets. The people at Tour of the Gila had no idea how much the city does to support the race that day. This year they will send some volunteers to help and distribute t-shirts to those helping. It will be passing through Bayard 11:30 am to noon on that Friday.

Ojinaga said he had met the previous year with them and asked for some publicity, and they said they would.

Michael Paez, maintenance director, thanked the council for patience with the maintenance employees. The million-gallon tank project reached completion on April 10, 2025. They have been waiting on the final inspection.

Stantec has provided a schematic for the fire station. Paez said he saw something on it that needed to be addressed, the infant surrender box. Salas said the box needed to be a priority and they had the $10,000 to do it. The whole project would be done in phases. They agreed the infant surrender box needed to be in phase one.

Eloy Gonzales wanted to know if contracts would be paid in phases and Paez said it depended on the contract. Salas explained the process.

Chuck Gray, beautification committee chair, said they had met and some on the committee had different viewpoints. Some people on the committee would like to see the entire effort of the committee and money raised be for beautification around town, painting over graffiti and picking up trash. The other part wants to see the committee go beyond that with other events such as trunk or treat, Christmas decoration contest, etc. In the last meeting they decided to ask the council blessing to spend 30 percent of existing funds to hire people or contractors to do some of the cleaning and painting projects. The committee only has five people, and all are 75 or older.

Medina said he thought it would be a great idea and appreciated what they do but they would have to adhere to procurement requirements. Salas said they had already discussed it, and they can do it. Salas said it would be on the next agenda.

Gray said they had a Bingo coming up. Salas said she had been approached by the Lions Club to do a Bingo every Tuesday for the rest of the year and wanted to use the machine. They didn't care about the $250 rental cost. That money will be put aside to purchase a new one. It will depend on if the state approves their request to have the weekly bingos. Some expressed concern it would hurt the beautification committee bingo and Salas said they have constant phone calls of people wanting to know when the next bingo would be.

Gray wanted to know about hiring someone to paint a mural on the carwash wall. Salas said, "The carwash is privately owned so they can't do that. It would go against the anti-donation law."

Provencio said she had received the quote to do the 20 feet by 20 feet cement pad, and it came in well over the budget. It had been $118,000 and they only had a budget of $11,500. She had talked to Paez, and they will be switching over and doing some electrical work for the park. Salas had been able to obtain extensions on the grants.

She had gone over the 30 Something grant earlier in the meeting. She had to break it down to just an outdoor kitchen and forgo the hydroponic garden. While outside doing some measuring for the outdoor kitchen a gentleman walked in and started talking about hydroponic gardens. Turned out he had expertise with them and used to do it for University of Arizona. He will be glad to help plan a hydroponic garden for the area and he had already started teaching her the different ways to do it.

Next month she would be having some other grants she would like to go for put on the agenda. She continued with a very comprehensive report on what they had been doing and would be doing in the future. She also provided a little information on the grants she wanted to apply for that would be on the next agenda.

David Terrazas, wastewater director, said he had two employees that would be going for their level two licensing. The RFP (request for proposal) didn't bring in any bids again. Someone had submitted a bid but did it through email and this has to be done as a sealed bid process. They will be sending it out for bid again and Salas had been able to obtain an extension on the funding. Trumm Engineering has continued to work on projects. Terrazas provided a list of what projects that Trumm had and would be working on.

Salas said she and Tanya Ortiz, deputy clerk, had attended clerks' school. It had been a weeklong, and they had a bad experience, but the class had been great. They had talked about public record requests, open meetings, workforce solutions, finance authority, etc. She had been able to have all the grants extended that would be expiring. They have security cameras coming and will start installing them at the public safety building and community center. Paez will speak to the same company doing the cameras at the public safety building about lighting and cameras at the community center park. Salas had been working with the department heads to start the budget for the next year. The following week would be the first budget workshop.

Mayor and councilors reports

Eloy Gonzales and Medina didn't have anything to report.

Frances Gonzales wanted to know what they had received in capital outlay funds. Salas went over the list.

Gilbert Ortiz said it had been good to see a lot of kids playing basketball.

Ojinaga talked about several things. One thing addressed had been the complaint about backing out at the library and he knew having that changed would be a long drawn out process.

Medina said he had received a complaint about the sewer line at the station and said it had backed up into the shower. Operations were shut down and all moved back to Silver City. It had been an anonymous complaint to the environmental division that they saw black mold and didn't have a restroom. They had involved a number of agencies and cut walls and didn't find anything. The environmental department will be releasing the name of the complainant. "We will have to respond to them what had been done." They had spoken to legal counsel and will be shutting the water off to the showers.

Salas wanted to address with Medina the garage door that had fallen. The quote to fix it will be $13,000. The council wanted to know if EMS would be willing to pay part of that cost. Medina asked her to send an official email. He would need that to approach the CFO. They talked about the issue and who should pay and what would insurance pay on the garage door repair. They had not done a police report at the time so the insurance would not cover it. Carrillo said they could still do one if need be. They agreed to look at the deductible first.

Next regular meeting will be held May 21, 2025.
Two budget work sessions May 1, 2025, and May 6, 2025

Meeting adjourned.